Preserving the Harvest

Posted by Jessica Meyers Altman on September 01, 2015

So harvest time is in full swing here at our house! You know it is when every portion of your 2 refrigerators, and all over the counters, there are green beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and zucchini. As crazy as this time of year is (plus getting back to school and schedules), it's what I look forward to all year! How do I deal with it all? Well-I preserve it in multiple forms. The following are some things I'm doing right now:

1) Hardy Herbs: If you grow fresh hardy herbs like sage, thyme, oregano, mint, rosemary, and lavendar: cut them and tie them together. Hang upside down to dry, and then store. Great way to get cheep, organic herbs!

2) Fragile Herbs: If you grow fragile herbs like basil & parsley: puree them with some water and place into freezer trays. Once frozen, place herb cubes into freezer bags/containers for year-long storage. Or make pesto, and freeze in ice cube containers as well. Here's my oil free pesto!

3) Tomatoes (I do all of these):

a) Can be frozen whole. If doing this, before using, the skins will peel right off. Use as you would canned tomatoes in soups, sauces, and stews

b) Can be canned: To do so, peel (here's my video on how to do this), and add to canning jars along with bottled lemon juice and salt

c) Can be turned into sauce that's either frozen or canned. Here's a recipe for garden fresh sauce